Allison Jones, The Canadian Press

Residents of an Ontario municipality voted in favour of hosting a deep geological repository for Canada's nuclear waste in an extremely tight referendum, and now the mayor says it's time to heal community fractures over the issue.

The Municipality of South Bruce, located south of Owen Sound, put the question to its residents and the results released late Monday show they voted 51 per cent in favour of the proposal, with just 78 votes separating the two sides.

South Bruce Mayor Mark Goetz said the result shows the need for the municipality to move forward.

"It's time now to accept the results and for the community to start rebuilding itself and bonding together again, mending those fences, so to speak," Goetz said.

The mayor said he did not expect the vote to be that close, but the results were binding on council as long as there was at least 50 per cent voter turnout. Nearly 70 per cent of eligible residents cast a ballot.

"The results are the results, and it's what the municipality has to live with now," Goetz said.

Bill Noll, vice chair of Protect Our Waterways, which is opposed to the repository, said 51 per cent is hardly a resounding yes and not in the spirit of the "compelling" demonstration of willingness the Nuclear Waste Management Organization has said it wants to see before selecting a site.

"We really do think that this result shows that the community is divided and remains divided on the issue," Noll said.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization plans to select a site this year where millions of bundles of used nuclear fuel will be placed in a network of underground rooms connected by cavernous tunnels.

The process for the $26-billion project has already been narrowed down to two sites, Ignace in northern Ontario and South Bruce, and the organization has said both the local municipality and the First Nation in those areas will have to agree to be hosts.

Ignace, between Thunder Bay and Kenora, became the first community to make its decision known in July, as town council voted in favour of a nuclear waste repository at a special meeting.

Attention now will turn to Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and Saugeen Ojibway Nation, to see if they share the same willingness as Ignace and South Bruce, respectively.

Proponents of the project have said it is a great opportunity for jobs and economic development, while opponents are concerned about environmental and health impacts.

(C) The Canadian Press